The present invention relates to a personal safety device for self protection using a combination of self protection components and safety switches capable of defending attackers from the front or the back of the victim. The personal safety device is inactivated when the safety door disengages from the device such as when an assailant grabs the personal safety device from the user.
Historically the primary responsibility for personal protection has always fallen on the individuals. This is true regardless of the community where one lives. Police agencies have been unable to protect everyone. Living in and around our large metropolitan cities requires that individuals, whether alone or with others, take precautionary measures to protect themselves against personal assaults. Various personal safety devices are available, including firearms, stun guns, chemical sprays, audible alarms and wireless security services.
Firearms, when accessible and handled properly, are good deterrents against an aggressor. However, carrying a firearm might not be an option especially to individuals who oppose the possession and use of firearms, or who are generally intimidated by firearms. Furthermore, the idea that death may occur because of the use of firearms also makes this form of self protection undesirable. In addition, many jurisdictions require the registration of the firearm and/or a permit for concealed weapons. These registrations either hinder or prevent an individual from these forms of personal defense.
Other personal protection devices such as chemical sprays, for example, pepper sprays, audible personal security alarms, and stun guns, when used properly, all have a deterrent effect on an aggressor without the consequences associated with a firearm. These devices, however, have limitations and can prove to be ineffective depending upon the circumstances.
For example, a stun gun can be effective in warding off aggressors as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,002,120. The aggressor, however, must be reasonably close, usually within an arms length, to effect an electric shock on the assailant. Further, due to its design and function, a stun gun can be ineffective when the assailant attacks a person from behind.
Chemical sprays and audible alarms have their advantages and disadvantages. Chemical sprays as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,865,348 generally offer a user the advantage of deterring an assailant at a distance of as much as 10 to 15 feet, as well as giving notice to the assailant that the user is not totally defenseless. However, a chemical spray is useless when the assailant covers his eyes with eyeglasses. Audible alarms on the other hand when used as a stand alone device has lost its usefulness, since most people in the metropolitan city areas no longer pay attention to such sound generated devices.
Further, in all of these known self defense devices, there are no mechanisms built in to deactivate the device which is necessary especially when an assailant takes possession of the device by force and uses the device on the user.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a simple device for self-defense combining the benefits of light, chemical spray, low battery indicator and stun gun in a simple device, thereby enabling a prospective victim to defend himself/herself, wherever the assailant is situated, from either the front or the back.
It is a further object of this invention to incorporate a deactivating mechanism for safety and for preventing an assailant to use the user""s own personal safety device against the user.
The present invention is a personal safety device comprising of a combination of a lighting device, a chemical spray in a canister and shocking electrodes and means for triggering each of these in a housing designed to ergonomically accommodate a hand, having a means for securing the safety device to a user""s hand. A unique feature of the personal safety device is its ability to be disabled once it is pulled by an assailant from a user""s hand so long as the user is using the safety device correctly. This is important so that the same safety device will not be used by the assailant on his or her victim.
The personal safety device have several shocking electrodes located at different faces of the safety device wherein a shocking electrode gets inactivated when another shocking electrode is activated to prevent a user from being stung by the shocking electrode that is not aimed at the assailant.
The chemical spray triggering assembly comprises a triggering switch connected to a restraining triggering strip which presses upon the nozzle of a canister containing the chemical, the triggering switch controlled by the position of a series of strips perpendicularly situated from the triggering switch.
The process of using the personal safety device comprises switching the on/off switch for turning the lighting device on; turning the trigger switch on while the on/off switch is on to trigger the activation of the shocking electrodes on the top surface of the safety device when the shocking electrodes is desired to be used to ward off an assailant; pressing on a nozzle of a chemical spray canister to deliver a spray when a shock is not desired; pressing on the bottom surface having shocking electrodes to activate the bottom shocking electrode when an assailant is at the user""s back, the activation of the bottom shocking electrodes causing the deactivation of the top shocking electrodes; and, pulling a safety device to disengage the shocking electrodes from the power source and dislocate the chemical spray canister thereby disabling the personal safety device.